Growth Mindset

A growth mindset refers to the inner conviction that individual characteristics, such as intelligence, can be developed and changed in a targeted and dynamic way through effort, training, and effective learning strategies. Challenges are seen as opportunities for growth, and mistakes are understood as learning opportunities.

A growth mindset is especially important for the development of gifted children and adolescents because it helps them to view effort as a pathway to high expertise and fosters lasting motivation to learn.

A growth mindset can be learned and actively fostered, for example, through process-oriented feedback that emphasizes effort and strategy use, as well as through interventions that focus on the brain's ability to change.

The opposite is a fixed mindset, in which ability is seen as an innate, unchangeable trait. Gifted children and adolescents often find that many things come easily to them, which can lead them to believe that effort signals a lack of ability. This may cause them to avoid challenges out of fear of possible failure, preventing them from fully developing their potential.